South Baltimore Neighborhood Sees Fourth Shooting In 15 Days

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- One person was shot in the head in Baltimore's Lakeland neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, sparking the fourth investigation into a shooting in the southern community within the past 15 days, according to authorities.

Police say that officers on patrol in South Baltimore responded to a report of gunfire in the 2600 block of Northshire Drive at 2:18 p.m.

During their search for the source of the gunfire, they found an "unidentified male" who had been struck by a bullet in the head, police said. 

That person was rushed to a local hospital where he is listed in critical condition, according to authorities.

Police records show that the South Baltimore neighborhood has recently been the site of three other shootings, one of them fatal. 

On March 14, police received a report that a 35-year-old man with gunshot injuries had shown up at a local hospital.

Detectives determined that the man had been shot in the 2900 block of Stranden Road, near Lakeland Elementary/Middle School.

Just two days before that, on March 12, there were two separate shootings along West Patapsco Avenue—a popular road that skims along the southern part of the neighborhood.

On that day, 20-year-old Marvin Pryor was gunned down in the 2500 block of West Patapsco Avenue at 3:54 p.m.

An ambulance took Pryor to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, which is where he later died.

Several hours later, officers in South Baltimore were sent to a local hospital after receiving a report that a 34-year-old man arrived with gunshot wounds.

Detectives learned that the man had been shot in the 2200 block of West Patapsco Avenue—roughly three blocks away from where Pryor was fatally wounded by bullets.

Neighborhood residents have expressed distress over the amount of violence occurring at their front doors.

One woman told WJZ that she heard the shooting that killed Pryor and said found him lying on the sidewalk.

She said she was struggling to go back inside her apartment.

"I can't open my blinds," she told WJZ on March 14 just as the city was reeling from another crime wave. "If I open my blinds, I see that young man."

Lakeland was the site of a crime that rocked the city back in 2018. That year, 13-year-old Montrell Mouzon was gunned down where Patapsco Road intersects with Hollins Ferry Road at 9:25 p.m. on Halloween night.

An ambulance took Mouzon to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, which is where he was pronounced dead.

Police later said that the boy had crack cocaine and stolen car keys on him at the time that he was killed.

Anyone with information on these shootings can contact Southern District detectives at 410-396-2499. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call the Metro Crime Stoppers tip-line at 1-866-7LOCK-UP.

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